2017 Session Position

Transcription

1 Education Employers in East King County struggle to fill available jobs with Washington state residents. Education is the key to closing this gap, beginning with early education (ages 3-4), and ending with the completion of higher education. Our state s students need to graduate high school with the skills needed to pursue higher education and attain high demand jobs in STEM, information technology, finance, and health care industries. Yet, too many students graduate high school without these skills and face higher education systems which struggle with budgets so tight that they have difficulty providing the qualified instructors, classroom space, and equipment required for the classes students need to prepare for these jobs. Therefore, we are asking the legislature to: Fund basic education: Develop a transparent state system for funding basic K-12 education, accounting for differences in regional cost of living and student education needs. Ensure basic education is defined to result in students graduating from the K-12 system prepared to pursue higher education and attain available jobs. The current school district apportionment formula was adopted in Now is the time to revisit assumptions behind the prototypical school model, including staffing ratios for nurses, social workers and mental health professionals, as well as security officers and technology support staff. Allow local districts to levy for enhancements, outside of basic education. Develop predictable state funding to aid in the costs of building classrooms when needed to comply with state requirements. Increase support for high quality preschool education for our state s most vulnerable populations this year and make it part of basic education in future years. Implement recommendations of the Legislative Task Force on School Siting: Designate schools, including higher education institutions, as essential public facilities under the GMA and allow school siting outside of the UGAs. Move the collective bargaining of salary and benefits for all K-12 employees to the state: Given its impact on the state budget (almost half), bargaining for education employee salaries should be an open/transparent process, more efficiently accomplished at the state level. Increase college credit opportunities and skills training in high schools: Provide support, which may include professional development for teachers, to significantly increase college in the high school and/or Running Start opportunities, including skills training for non-college bound students in all high schools at no cost to the student. Enhance accountability and improve outcomes: Set meaningful, open, and transparent accountability measures that report by district the percentage of students who graduate college and career ready and require steady increases. All state district schools should improve their college readiness rates by 10%.

2 Fund market-based salaries for ALL education employees, including institutions of higher learning: Account for regional cost of living and other factors which impact attracting and retaining employees. Fully fund the State Need Grant Program and the Washington Opportunity Scholarship Fund. Fund capital facilities and expansion of high demand degree programs offered by Bellevue College, Cascadia College, Lake Washington Institute of Technology and University of Washington Bothell.

3 Transportation The Coalition believes that transportation infrastructure is critical to our state s business climate and economic future. We supported the passage of a statewide comprehensive transportation package in 2015 and since the legislature made those investments the following transportation objectives are important to us: Investments should be prioritized to preserve existing transportation assets and finish incomplete projects that are critical to the state s primary economic corridors, such as I-90 and SR-18, SR-520 and I-405, and SR 169 Uphold commitments from the 2015 Connecting Washington revenue package and keep projects funded and on schedule Continue support for reforms that reduce project costs and delays, improve accountability, transparency, and efficiency on projects, budgeting, and the administration of programs and services. Support incentives for emerging and growing technologies in alternative fuel use and infrastructure, and oppose implementing stricter fuel standards and other carbon pricing schemes that increase transportation and energy costs. Support data-driven transportation solutions found in real-time traffic mobility data. Oppose legislation or the use of transportation resources that adversely affect Washington businesses or create competitive disadvantages.

4 Economic Development Economic development and job creation should remain a priority for Washington s legislature in A healthy and stable private sector ensures continued job growth and funding for the quality of life and public services that our citizens have come to expect. We support public policies which will preserve East King County as the economic engine of the state and promote growth in high paying job clusters such as clife sciences, technology and professional services. The Legislature should: Provide tools for infrastructure funding through tax increment financing (or value capture financing). Preempt municipalities from enacting ordinances that require employers to administer human resource policies which exceed state standards. Identify innovative solutions to the state Worker Compensation program that will reduce costs on employers. Create a state agency licensing and regulatory one stop shopping portal for small businesses, as proposed in SB Renew research and development tax incentives, including B&O tax credits and sales tax deferrals, to retain high technology and life sciences companies in Washington state and encourage their expansion. Enact additional tax incentives directed at small, innovative firms. Extend aerospace tax incentives to include the commercial space sector.

5 Employment and Benefits The legislature can help Washington businesses create jobs and help our economy get back on track by doing the following: Preempt municipalities around Washington from enacting individual minimum wage laws or other employment laws that will require employers to administer different human resource policies within the state and/or have a negative impact on the state s job creation. Maintain existing minimum wage laws tied to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) Act boldly in addressing minimum wage laws on a statewide basis to ensure that business development, job creation, and entrepreneurship are not negatively affected. Maintain the right of employers to discuss work-related issues with employees; resist all efforts to eliminate or restrict employee choice and privacy with respect to secret ballot union elections; and do not impose state-level collective bargaining obligations on State employers or those employers who receive payments from the State. Repeal The Family Leave Insurance Act of 2007 as an unfunded, unworkable mandate. Pass legislation that is sustainable and funds pension obligations for State employees. Privatize Worker s Compensation insurance to move the system towards greater choice and competition, thereby reducing costs. Do not expand Unemployment Insurance benefits and do not transfer UI funds to unrelated State programs. Freeze voluntary quits. Fund retraining programs for long-term unemployed.

6 Energy A reliable, sustainable, and affordable energy supply is vital to the economic growth and strength of Washington. We urge the legislature to: Facilitate utilities ability to comply with the requirements of the Energy Independence Act (I- 937). Clarify obligations, ease reporting and facilitate acquisition of all cost-effective conservation resources. Ensure the economic development and environmental benefits of the Initiative are balanced with appropriate cost caps to protect electric utility ratepayers. Encourage development of a diverse portfolio of cost-effective energy resources including but not limited to hydroelectric, geothermal, solar, wind, biomass, fuel cells, and tidal/wave power for electric and thermal generation. This would include energy storage technologies and smart grid investments for the transmission and distribution infrastructure necessary to deliver these energy resources to Washington s load centers. Recognize and support land-use planning requirements in a manner that will continue to protect the environment and ensure the reliability of energy services, including the necessity to upgrade existing and add new energy infrastructure and equipment to meet energy needs of businesses and residents. Allow cities to protect vital infrastructure information for security purposes.

7 Environment We must reassess our environmental priorities to ensure that we are receiving the most environmental benefit in a way that truly promotes long-term job creation and prosperity. Mandates drive costs up and a blanket approach on environmental policy often creates undue or extreme hardships in local jurisdictions. We urge the legislature to: Give local jurisdictions more flexibility on environmental mandates to determine what is best for their local conditions. Insist that regulatory rulemaking follow the letter and spirit of the legislation it is based upon. Insist that environmental regulations, especially in urban areas, are market and incentive-based (not mandated) and that they have clearly defined, measurable outcomes. Focus on the financial/economic impacts of environmental regulations and sustainability initiatives not just the environmental and social impacts. Maintain a healthy balance among these three pillars of sustainability. Require state agencies with broad environmental mandates to have more accountability to the private sector by requiring an economic analysis to accompany significant regulatory proposals. Have clearly defined outcomes and designate clear areas of authority for achieving the desired outcomes. Oppose the implementation of Cap-and-Trade at the state and local levels. Eliminate the state goal to reduce per capita vehicle miles traveled and replace with a goal to maximize the efficiency of the transportation system. Repeal the 2012 Phase II Municipal Storm Water Permit for Western Washington requiring a storm water management program.

8 Growth Management As a state, we must be prepared for anticipated growth by ensuring that there is an adequate supply of economically feasible buildable land with the infrastructure to support it. Our state must do no further harm to the construction industry and prepare for the future growth of our region. We must provide predictability, consistency, and flexibility in our regulatory structure. We urge the legislature to: Reduce state regulations to lower cost and/or improve predictability for construction that might conflict with impending national regulations. Require losing appellants to bear the actual costs created by private challenges to land development. Tie state infrastructure funding to cost-effective local investments. Maximize efficiency of existing and planned infrastructure to achieve the greatest return on investment. Enforce legislation that requires impact fees and infrastructure revenue from excise taxes to remain restricted to currently designated capital infrastructure and to be invested in a timely fashion. Ensure property owners are given a predictable process and just compensation for property takings and do not deprive owners of reasonable use.

9 Health Care Ensure that the private health insurance market is allowed the freedom and flexibility provided in The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to offer products that meet the needs of businesses and employees. Ultimately, the legislature must support choice, competition, and affordability in the private health insurance market.

10 Liability Reform The cost of liability insurance is an increasing burden on the business community. The overall economy suffers when productivity and growth are slowed by excessive litigation, which discourages risk-taking and slows the introduction of new products and technologies. We urge the legislature to: Defend against legislation that would create new causes of action and allow for further lawsuit abuse. Provide adequate funding to the courts so that cases may be heard and resolved in an efficient and timely manner. Enact laws to limit lawsuit abuse and reduce the practice of using courts to regulate business. Advance proposals to help resolve cases faster and increase the fairness and predictability of the civil justice system. Support legislation that makes the reward proportional to the defendant s fault, limits defendants to only responsible parties, and maximizes compensation for the plaintiff versus the lawyers.